Räikkönen got off to a perfect start and built up a comfortable 1.5-seconds lead from BMW's Nick Heidfeld after only two laps. Third was F1 rookie Lewis Hamilton, who managed to get in front of his teammate Fernando Alonso after the start. As the Finn got further away from the pack (scoring a fastest time after 7 laps), Hamilton and Alonso started putting pressure on BMW's Heidfeld. The German pitted on Lap 14, leaving Hamilton on an amazing second place in the race.
In the meantime, Felipe Massa – who had to start the race from 22nd place on the grid – was already in 14th before Lap 15. As expected, the Brazilian optioned for a one-pit stop strategy, which got him into a further 7th place by Lap 25. Up front, Nick Heidfeld was the “loser” of the first round of pit stops, giving up 3 places to Hamilton, Alonso and team mate Kubica.
As Kimi started building a decisive lead in the laps to come, the action soon transferred to the 4th place battle between BMW's team mates Heidfeld and Kubica. As the German got closer and closer to Kubica, the Polish driver had to retire due to mechanical problems on his car (Lap 38). The BMW driver was now followed by Fisichella, Schumacher and Rosberg. But that order changed 2 laps later, when the Williams driver managed an outstanding move in front of Ralf Schumacher's Toyota (turn 9 of Lap 40) to storm into 6th.
After Alonso's pit stop, things were pretty clear on the final podium. Felipe Massa was the only driver to pull a rabbit out of the hat, as he undertook Rosberg and Schumacher for 6th after their pit stops. David Coulthard provided the fans with season's first spectacular accident, as he flew over Williams' Alexander Wurz and right into the gravel run-off area on Turn 3 of the circuit (Lap 49).
Kimi's victory at his very debut with the Maranello team equaled Nigel Mansell's performance in 1989 (as the Briton also won his debut race with Ferrari).
“The weekend has been very good. Today the race was not easy - before the start my radio broke so it was bit complicated. At least we had a plan so I knew pretty much what I had to do, even though it wasn't ideal. I just tried to pace myself and not push too hard”, said Räikkönen after his impressive run.
Fernando Alonso also admitted Ferrari's superiority in the race, as the reigning 2-times world champion came in second overall: “I think it has been a good weekend and the final result we have top be pleased with. But Ferrari were a little too quick so we have to take the maximum points so second is a good place to start the season”.
Unquestionable, the hit of the day was rookie Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver stunned the Formula One experts, scoring a podium on his first ever F1 event. “It has been fantastic. To lead into my first Grand Prix was fantastic. It was really tough though. Having Fernando, a two-time champion behind you in your first race creates a lot of pressure”, said Hamilton after the race. He also referred to his second pit stop, which pretty much cost him 2nd place overall: “The second stop went fine but coming up on backmarkers was tough. I can learn from that though”.
In the Constructors' Point Standings, Ferrari trails McLaren by one point, as Massa came in 6th at the end of the race. Renault scored its only points through Giancarlo Fisichella (5th place), since Heikki Kovalainen could only managed 10th at the end of the day. Honda was, undoubtedly, the “loser” of the weekend, since neither Barrichello (11th place), nor Jenson Button (15th place) managed to score any points for the Japanese manufacturer.
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